By Melissa Gauger
Title: Observatory Files, 1918, 1925-75, 2013-16
ID: 15/3/16
Primary Creator: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Department of Astronomy
Extent: 0.3 cubic feet
Arrangement: Original Order
Date Acquired: 07/27/2016
Subjects: Astronomy, Astronomy Department, Observatory, Repairs and Remodeling
Languages: English
The Observatory Files (1918, 1925-75, 2013-16) contains correspondence, reports, budgets, photographs, and a publication relating to operations of the campus observatory. Contents include the purchase and development of observatory equiptment; budgets for remodeling and adding new additions to the observatory; history of the observatory.
Instruction in astronomy commenced in 1892 as an offering of the Mathematics Department.1 In August 1921, the Board of Trustees authorized that the Division of Astronomy in the Department of Mathematics be organized as a separate Department of Astronomy.2 In 1957, the Department began a program of cooperative investigation with the United States Office of Naval Research3 and, in 1962, the radio telescope site at Vermilion River Observatory was completed.4 The courses offered range from descriptive astronomy to aeronomy,5 with B.S.,6 M.S. and Ph.D. degrees offered.7
1. Catalogs and Registers, 1892-93, p. 57.
2. Board of Trustees Transactions, 34th Report, August 1, 1921, p. 17.
3. Board of Trustees Transactions, 49th Report, April 15, 1957, p. 372.
4. Board of Trustees Transactions, 52nd Report, November 9, 1962, p. 261.
5. Undergraduate Course Catalog, 1972/74, pp. 61-62.
6. Undergraduate Study Catalog, 1971/72, p. 365.
7. Graduate College Catalog, 1971/72, p. 99.
URL: https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/uasfa/1503016.pdf
PDF finding aid for Observatory Files (15/3/16)